Running head: District of Columbia Public School SYSTEM IS A FAILURE

Paul Tarrance District of Columbia Public School System Is a Failure Ms. Priest Winston-Salem State University

DCPSC SYSTEM IS A FAILURE District of Columbia Public School System Is a Failure The secondary education system in the United States consists of high school and middle school. The sole purpose is to provide the students with basic knowledge to go on to their next step in education whether it is college or trade school. The school systems job is to also prepare students to be actively competitive in the real world and corporate America. There is a common misconception that the District of Columbia Public School system is efficient. The DC Public School system fails to sufficiently prepare students for educational opportunities beyond High School such as college and trade school. The limited number of courses and poor grading scale is the cause of the failure of this system. The limited amount of courses offered by the DCPS system accounts for their failure as a system. For the students who plan on attending a college or university, there are limited amounts of classes that will prepare them such as Honor, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate courses. In the DCPS system there are an average of three AP courses and three honors courses per school, most schools having less than that and few schools having more. There is no average for IB courses only a select number of schools have them. There are no honors English or math in grades 9 and 10 to prepare students for AP classes. When students get to AP, a lot of the material is watered down and has to be retaught. By offering more honor courses it will prepare students for AP courses. According to Statistics show AP courses boost success, the more AP courses you take the more successful your collegiate career will be (Switzer, 2010). It stated that college students who have completed one AP course have a 59 percent chance of completing a four-year degree, while students with two or more AP

DCPSC SYSTEM IS A FAILURE courses under their belt have a 76 percent chance of completing a bachelors degree. By offering more of these classes they will increase the student success in the collegiate career. There are no classes offered to students that do not plan to go to college. College isnt for everyone, but in this world you need some type of trade or skill. DCPS does not offer trade training or skill training for occupations that do not require a college degree. In the DCPS school system there are no trade course offered such as barbering, cosmetology, electricians, etc. The lack of these courses prevents students from becoming active competitors in society and corporate America. In the summer of 2012, I had the privilege to go to Central America on behalf of Georgetown University and the State Department with 20 other kids from across the country, kids from Texas, New York, Idaho, and Iowa. When we shared our different encounters in schools I notice that their schools had classes that my particular school did not. In all their schools they had at least one trade course. A school in Idaho had a mechanics class where they learned how to repair and assemble cars, then at the end of the year they were able to make the own car. This prepares students for job opportunities by supplying them with a trade that can let them compete in the working world; unlike DC where students who do not plan to go to college are left out in the cold with no skills, experience, or sense of direction. DCPS grading scales serve as a problem by setting such a low standard. An A is anything between 100-90%. A B is anywhere between 89-80%. While a C is 79- 70%, a D is 69-60%, and an F is 59-0 %. 69-60 % shows that you get the material but still are misunderstanding major areas. Letting students pass with anything under 70% is

DCPSC SYSTEM IS A FAILURE failure to prepare students for college. With this being said, a D which is 69-60% is accepted. When you give students a low standard they tend to meet low standards. People will argue the fact that the DCPS system does its job because there are hundreds of students that graduate from high schools each year and hundreds go on to college. This is true; however, student preparation is not done in a sufficient manner. According to Sachder (2012), In Washington, D.C. for every 100 students who enter 9th grade in D.C. public schools, only 43 graduate from high school within five years, 29 enroll in postsecondary educational programs within 18 months of graduating high school, and 9 attain a postsecondary degree within five years of enrolling in college. A 43% graduation rate of High School and a 9% graduation of college are neither effective nor sufficient. In 2013, Kevin Mungin, a mentor from the College Success Foundation, discussed how some neighborhoods like ward 7 and ward 8 the statistic are lower: 37% of students graduate High School, 3% graduate college within 5 years, and 1% of them those graduates are males (College Success Foundation, 2013). DCPS should stop and reevaluate its goals and agenda. Preparing students for some type of secondary education after high school whether it is college or trade school should be their number one goal. Without secondary education these students stand no chance in competing and being successful in this world. DCPS should implement a higher standard into effect when making anything below a 70 percent. In reality, anything below a 70 is failing. The DCPS system should make more honor and AP courses. The honor courses will insure students are prepared for AP courses, which prepares students for college. Lastly, DCPS should understand that college is not for everyone and should offer trade courses in careers that you do not need a college degree

DCPSC SYSTEM IS A FAILURE like barbering, cosmetology, electricians, etc. If these criteria were in effect, it would prepare more students to graduate from college. If this new criteria were in place there would not be as many struggles and challenges that students face now in their collegiate career.

DCPSC SYSTEM IS A FAILURE

References Mungin, K. (2013, October 28). Interview by P Tarrance. College Success Foundation. Sachder, N. (October 2012) The Washington DC High School High School Drop Out Crisis Retrieved from: http://www.americangraduatedc.org/content /pdfs/AmGradDC_Gap_Analysis_2012.pdf Switzer, L. (June 29, 2010) Statistics show AP courses boost success Retrieved from: http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/statistics-show-ap-courses-boostsuccess/article_f525814e-32b4-5adf-a0db-d8ea6eb2be3b.html